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Wednesday, November 7, 2012

anarcha-feminist celebration: criticism criticized (1978)

Leeder, Elaine Tiamat, Off Our Backs, 8. (Oct 31, 1978): 21.

As one of the organizers of the anarcha-feminist "celebration" held in
Ithaca, N.Y. I feel it necessary to comment on Mary Fridley's review in
your July issue.

First, I would like to point out
that this "conference" was actually billed as a celebration in which we
would seek to grow, learn, exchange ideas and to play together. Tiamat
and friends, the organizers, felt that it was important for us as
anarcha-feminists to get together, gain strength in our growing numbers,
develop a rational political theory, see what we were all doing on the
local level and continue to build an ongoing network (federation, if you
will) for communication and support.

Second, the
celebration was predicated on the assumption that where the needs of
the participants were not being met there was room for dialogue in order
to create the kind of space that people were needing. Revolutionary
growth demands that kind of energy, rather than just suntanning.

Third, it concerns me that the capitalist press view of criticism, that
of insulting and inducing guilt was employed by the OOB reporter. An
example of this is in the statement: "Any movement which claims to be
revolutionary but does not incorporate the struggles of poor, working
class, Black and Third World women into its philosophy is not
revolutionary - it is no better than the Democratic party." It would
have been more helpful to us if Mary could have voiced her criticisms
during the weekend so they could have been incorporated into the
structure, rather than waiting to put it into print long after the event
occurred. We were also quite sorry that the OOB workshop was not held
as planned.

On Sunday morning the participants
decided that the schedule of workshops was too hectic and through the
use of consensual decision making a new scheme was implemented. We
struggled, tensions built and we moved to a new level together. There
were no positions of power, decisions were made by all, sharing was
spontaneous, painful, but open and leadership rotated. All of these are
examples of anarchism at work. Later, at the closing circle, after a
weekend of sitting naked in the sun, 85 women held hands and gained
strength in our numbers. We were bonded and cohesive in our vision of a
new society and what we had experienced together. We had made meaningful
contacts for our future work. But of course the OOB reporter missed
these two important events, having decided to leave early.

Fourth, it concerns me as much as the writer that whites and middle
class women were the predominant force at the celebration. The one Black
woman present commented on this and we shared her dismay.

We could wish that reality in 1978 were different but need that
invalidate the worth of the work that we do? We did a lot of theorizing.
The women's movement has long been criticized for not doing just that.
We are just learning how to do it. Let's affirm that we are looking at
the theory under the actions, not put us down for it. It is my thinking
that theory comes out of action. We need each other to discuss what
we've been doing, abstract it, and from this move on to new actions.

Actions, at this point, seem to have their place in our own locales.
They cannot be organized on a mass-scale when people have never met each
other, do not share a common issue on which to act and are to be
together for one brief weekend. We never intended for a plan of ... to
come from this. For many of us nuclear energy and waste are our local
issues (Ithaca is currently being threatened as a nuclear waste dump
site). Rita Brown seems to be an issue in which women in the D.C.
and southern areas are involved. We would have appreciated an education
from the sisters who knew about what was happening at Alderson. I
remember seeing the written material at the celebration and wondering
who brought it and what I could do.

Mary's
suggestion that we need Black and Third World women to lead us in
revolution smacks of vanguardism. To me her suggestion loses the essence
of Anarchism which is a struggle for all people, no matter what the
specific oppression. We are fighting against all authority which
suffocates those who have no power. Our struggles as white, middle class
women are different than other women. We can validate our own struggle
and support others in theirs. We can use a common framework and theory
but then each group must work out the specifics for themselves.
Coalitions must be formed but no one group will lead us to revolution.
All the forces must be ready before anything will happen.

Another concern of mine is that Mary engaged in what I would call
"inflammatory journalism". In the interest of good feminist reporting I
would like to share what actually happened concerning the issue of
violence. The discussion in the theory workshop evolved to a point where
violence was being addressed. At just that moment the time allotment
for the workshop ended and it was decided that those who wanted to go on
to the other workshops would do so. Since the only scheduled workshop
on violence was concerned with violence against women this new group
evolved to discuss the issue of violence as a revolutionary tactic.
There was certainly no "split over the issue of violence and use of
violence by women" as suggested. This issue of direct action came
logically out of our discussion and needed further exploration. I find
this kind of reporting incendiary. It does not help us to grow stronger
but divides us further.

Throughout the critique I
found Mary using a lot of hyperbole that was not constructive. I feel
she presented a negative and distorted picture of an important event. It
had a "Lefter Than Thou" tone that was unnerving. I hope that my
response will somehow add a further dimension to what really happened
here in Ithaca in June of 1978.

Finally, Ithaca
is not located in the Catskil mountains (which are actually over 100
miles to the east of us). One wonders how a person who doesn't know
where she is can make judgments about where other people are not.

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Anarcha: Mother of Gynecology

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